John Jay

John Jay (23 December 1745-17 May 1829) was Chief Justice of the United States from 26 September 1789 to 29 June 1795, preceding John Rutledge, and Governor of New York from 1 July 1795 to 30 June 1801 in between George Clinton's two terms. Jay was a member of the Federalist Papers and one of the authors of the Federalist Papers and the author of the 1794 Jay Treaty, and his tenure as the first Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court led to him being honored with the foundation of "Jay College" in his honor.

Biography
John Jay was born on 23 December 1745 in New York City, New York to a family descended from Huguenots that arrived at the turn of the century after the Edict of Nantes was revoked. Jay attended King's College after 1760, and he was admitted to the bar in 1768, establishing his own law office in 1771. His first role in the American Revolution was his role with the Committees of Correspondence after 1774, and he led the conservative faction of the rebels that sought to defend the property of the Americans. Jay married New Jersey Governor William Johnson's daughter Sarah Van Brugh Livingston, building a wealthy and slaveowning family. However, in 1777 he joined the abolitionist movement, and he drafted the constitution of New York that same year. From 10 December 1778 to 28 September 1779, he served as President of the Continental Congress between Henry Laurens and Samuel Huntington, and in 1779 he was appointed minister to Spain. Jay convinced Spain to enter the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain, and from 1784 to 1789 he served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs due to his experience in diplomacy.

As foreign minister, Jay sought to secure the recognition of American independence from the European nations, sought to pay back the debts that America owed to their allies. In 1788, with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, he wrote the Federalist Papers to advocate a stronger government, and he served as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1789 to 1795. While in this post, he negotiated the 1794 Jay Treaty with Great Britain, which secured free trade in the Caribbean Sea and the treatment of US ships with "most favored nation" status. In 1792, Democratic-Republican Party member George Clinton defeated him in the gubernatorial elections for New York, and in 1795 he won the elections. In 1796, he won five electoral votes during the presidential elections and only one vote in 1800, and he left office as governor the next year, with Clinton replacing him. Jay retired due to poor health, and he died of a stroke on 14 May 1829.